As the government prepares the next phase of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), a coalition of 58 organisations and air quality experts has urged major reforms. Their white paper stresses that NCAP 2.0 must go beyond cities to cover rural and peri-urban regions, which continue to face severe pollution but remain largely unmonitored.
Push for Accountability in Clean Air Mission
Launched in 2019, the NCAP set a target of reducing air pollution in 131 cities by 40 percent by 2025-26, using 2019-20 levels as the baseline. Yet progress has been uneven, with 82 cities still failing to meet national air quality standards. Experts argue that rural India, where air pollution is equally damaging, remains “invisible” in the current system.
“Most NCAP cities still fail to meet clean air standards, while rural areas are completely left out,” said Nandikesh Sivalingam, Director of the Centre for Research on Clean Air and Energy. The report recommends that funding should be tied to actual emission cuts across transport, industry, and biomass sectors, rather than softer indicators like the number of ‘good air days’.
Gaps in Monitoring and Use of Funds
Since the programme’s launch, the Centre has released over ₹1,600 crore to participating cities, with another ₹801 crore sanctioned for 2024-25. However, delays in fund utilisation have raised concerns about efficiency. The paper calls for state-level emission modelling, stricter PM2.5 limits 35 µg/m³ annually for the Indo-Gangetic plains and 25 µg/m³ for relatively cleaner states and region-specific action plans.
India currently has 560 continuous and 800 manual monitoring stations, but many cities have just one, while most rural areas lack any monitoring infrastructure. Experts have also recommended independent audits, a dedicated NCAP working group, and stronger enforcement of sectoral measures.
With NCAP entering a critical phase, experts warn that without sharper goals and stricter accountability, India’s clean air mission risks falling short of its promise.